This section introduces aspects that may be helpful to facilitating a better understanding of the inventions. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.
Fourth generation (4G) wireless mobile telecommunications technology, also known as Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, was designed to provide high capacity mobile multimedia with high data rates particularly for human interaction. Next generation or fifth generation (5G) technology is intended to be used not only for human interaction, but also for machine type communications in so-called Internet of Things (IoT) networks.
While 5G networks are intended to enable massive IoT services (e.g., very large numbers of limited capacity devices) and mission-critical IoT services (e.g., requiring high reliability), improvements over legacy mobile communication services are supported in the form of enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services. Such eMBB services are intended to provide improved wireless Internet access for mobile devices.
In an example communication system, user equipment (UE) such as a mobile device communicates over an air interface with a base station referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB). The eNB is illustratively part of an access network of the system such as, for example, an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). The eNB provides access for the UE to a core network (CN), which then provides access for the UE to a data network such as a packet data network (e.g., Internet).
During the course of operation, it is sometimes necessary for the CN to seek, also known as “page,” the UE when the UE is in an idle mode. However, using current legacy paging techniques, “fake” eNBs (e.g., eNBs set up and maintained by malicious operators to appear to be legitimate eNBs) or any active/passive listener can track down the physical presence of a user with reasonable accuracy to a specific and limited geographic area. This fake eNB or active/passive listener threat has serious security implications for users and is not addressed in 4G/LTE or other legacy services.